DNR board adopts stricter lead-and-copper rule to align Wisconsin with new federal standards

The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board on a unanimous voice vote adopted board order DG‑04‑24 to amend NR 809 and related code to align the state with federal updates to the Lead and Copper Rule.

DNR manager Anne Hiracouture told the board the rule lowers the lead action level from 15 parts per billion to 10 ppb, strengthens sampling (including additional first‑ and fifth‑liter sampling at locations with lead service lines), requires community water systems to create service‑line material inventories and lead service‑line replacement plans, strengthens corrosion‑control requirements and public‑notice and education obligations, and requires sampling at schools and childcare facilities. Hiracouture said the state used federal compliance costs as the baseline for the environmental impact analysis and estimates an incremental annual state cost of roughly $37,000 across systems for the first five years where the state rule is more stringent than federal baseline assumptions.

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